Ombudsman Martha Chizuma has left the role today to take up the position of Director General of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
Chizuma who is widely praised for fighting office abuse and maladministration in the public service, started working as Ombudsman in December, 2015.
Automatically this made her a Commissioner of Malawi Human Rights Commission, a Commissioner of Police Service Commission and an Inspector of Prisons. She was also later appointed Commissioner of Prison Service Commission.
In a farewell letter on her Facebook page, Chizuma said she look back at the last 5 years and 6 months with a sense of great gratitude for all the support she received from the Government, Parliament, the judiciary, Development partners, civil society organization and the people of Malawi.
“Today 31/5/2021 is the last day I am holding the position of Ombudsman and automatically all these other portfolios I have held.
“I depart with warm memories of my time in the Office of the Ombudsman, at Police at MHRC and Prison. I leave having learnt a lot from amazing group of people who have the right heart for this country.
“Once again thank you Malawi for the trust confidence and opportunity to serve you. Thank you for the prayers, support, the criticism (yes, we needed it and welcomed it) and encouragement. I shall forever remain grateful for this,” wrote Chizuma in a farewell message.
She leaves the Office of the Ombudsman after spending K2.5 billion, out of which K1.3 billion was from the government. K766 million was sourced from the European Union wile the United Nations provided K260 million.
Chizuma’s office conducted 16 systemic investigations, handled 14,224 cases, held 517 public enquiries and made 346 determinations.
